Share This Story!

Police: Paradox bar owner sought $3.1 million in pot

A Wausau tavern operator and another man were charged Monday in Marathon County Circuit Court Monday in what police described as a conspiracy to buy and distribute large amounts of high-grade marijuana — a deal they say could be worth about $3.1 million.

WAUSAU – A Wausau tavern operator and another man were charged Monday in Marathon County Circuit Court Monday in what police described as a conspiracy to buy and distribute large amounts of high-grade marijuana — a deal they say could be worth about $3.1 million.

Scott Kurzynski, 44, of Wausau was charged with felony conspiracy to manufacture or deliver marijuana and misdemeanor bail jumping in Marathon County Circuit Court, according to court records.

Timothy Kleinschmidt, 43, of Wausau was charged with conspiracy to manufacture or deliver marijuana, possession of cocaine with intent to deliver, possession of psilocin with intent to deliver and possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, according to court records.

Assistant District Attorney Kyle Mayo said at Kurzynski's first court appearance that Kurzynski was the main conspirator in the plot.

On Sept. 26, Kurzynski told an undercover agent from the Milwaukee High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area during a meeting at a Wausau-area restaurant that he was interested in buying 100 pounds of high-grade marijuana for $1,300 a pound in the next two weeks and would then buy that quantity each month for the next two years, according to court documents. He said that the marijuana could be delivered to the Paradox tavern of Wausau, which Kurzynski owns and which he told the agent had received marijuana shipments in the past.

It was easy to get shipments out of the bar by putting them in empty cases of beer, he said, according to court records.

The two agreed that Kurzynski would pay $65,000 in cash and give the agent the titles to vehicles worth at least $65,000 that the agent would hold onto until Kurzynski paid the second $65,000.

The two met in Mosinee on the evening of Oct. 10 and Kurzynski told the agent that his partner, Kleinschmidt, had the money in the parking lot of a Kwik Trip. Once he had seen the marijuana, Kurzynski gave the agent the vehicle titles and met Kleinschmidt in the parking lot, where he took a photo of the cash and texted it to the agent, according to court records. He then returned to the agent, gave him $60,000 in cash and was arrested.

Police recorded Kleinschmidt's license plate number while he was at the Kwik Trip and found the associated blue Subaru at his address on Bridge Street. He was arrested after leaving his residence, according to court documents.

Officers searched his home and found about 6 ounces of cocaine, psilocybin in a tin can and "multiple" ATM machines containing "significant" amounts of high-grade marijuana, according to court documents. He told police he had used the machines in the past to transport the drug, according to court documents.

Kleinschmidt told police he and Kurzynski had had a drug business relationship for the past year or so and that Kleinschmidt had bought about 10 pounds of high-grade marijuana from Kurzynski at least once.

Kurzynski also told investigators that he had started dealing high-grade marijuana in August 2012, according to court documents.

Circuit Court Judge Jill Falstad ordered both men held on $250,000 cash bonds with conditions that they do not have contact with each other and do not consume controlled substances without a valid prescription. Neither had posted bond as of 5:30 p.m. Monday, according to the Marathon County Jail.

Preliminary hearings in both cases are scheduled for Oct. 22.

Alison Dirr can be reached at 715-845-0658. Find her on Twitter as @AlisonDirr